A-State Men set for home game vs. Lamar

2014-11-25T22:16:22Z

QUICK HITS

After the 75-73 loss to UT?Martin, the Red Wolves have compiled a 6-7 record in regular-season openers dating back to the 2002-03 season. A-State has now lost four of its last five season-opening contests, but last Monday's loss to UT Martin was the only season-opener at home in that stretch.

The Red Wolves are 14-4 (.778 win pct.) in their last 18 home openers following a 75-73 defeat to UT Martin in Monday's home opener. A-State head coach John Bradydrops to 5-2 in such outings since his arrival in the 2008-09 campaign.The 2014-15 campaign represents the program's 87th season as the Red Wolves have presently amassed a 1,142-1,078 all-time record (.514?win pct.)?dating back their inaugural 1926-27 season. A-State has won at least 20 games in a season five times – 1986-87 (21-13), 1987-88 (21-14), 1988-89 (20-10), 1990-91 (23-9) and 1997-98 (20-9) since joining the NCAA-I?ranks in 1970-71.

A-State's 19 victories in the 2013-14 season (19-13 record)?tied for the second most single-season wins since 1997-98 and also marked a tie for the highest win total in head coach John Brady's A-State coaching career. The Red Wolves went 19-12 overall in 2012-13, which was the program's most wins since 1997-98 (20-9 record). A-State has achieved 17 wins or more in a campaign five of the last six seasons to date and the Red Wolves have posted an 86-74 record (.538) since the 2009-10 season. A-State has compiled double-digit victories in 16 of the last 18 seasons. The Red Wolves have won at least 15 games or more on 11 occasions, which includes four of the last five seasons to date.?

A-State has compiled a 270-101 record (.728 winning percentage)?at home dating back to the 1987-88 season. The Red Wolves have compiled double-digit home wins 16 times to date, which included an 11-4 home ledger in the 2013-14 season. A-State is a combined 47-12 (.797) at the Convocation Center in its last five seasons – 2010-11 (13-0), 2011-12 (10-5), 2012-13 (13-2), 2013-14 (11-4), and 2014-15 (0-1).

A-State's next victory will give John Brady his 100th win as the squad's head coach. Brady is currently sitting on 99 wins (99-92 overall record).

A-STATE/LAMAR SERIES HISTORY

A-State and Lamar have met 82 times in history, making it the most played series in school history. The two schools were conference foes in the Southland, American South, and Sun Belt Conferences until Lamar left the SBC before the 1998-99 season. Lamar holds the advantage in the series by a count of 46-36, but the Red Wolves have won the last two contests, including a 95-89 victory in Beaumont a season ago.

Arkansas State leads 25-14 in the series when they are the host team and defeated the Cardinals two sea sons ago by a score of 93-53 in Jonesboro Nov. 25, 2012. The 40-point win is the largest margin of victory by either school in the series. A-State holds a 12-2 advantage in games held in the Convocation Center.

In last season's contest, the Red Wolves had all five starters score in double-figures with Melvin Johnson IIIleading the way with 26 as he hit eight-of-nine from behind the arc. Kirk Van Slyke and Kendrick Washington had 13 and 12 points, respectively, and both fell one rebound shy of recording double-doubles. Lamar out shot A-State 62.5 percent to 56.9 percent, but A-State nailed 13 three-pointers compared to only four for the Cardinals.

The Red Wolves are 3-2 against the Cardinals under Coach John Brady and Brady has an overall record of 3- 3 against Lamar. A-State trails the series 3-4 in the last seven meetings that have taken place since Lamar left the Sun Belt Conference before the 1998-99 season. Lamar won the first two meetings when the teams resumed the series in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, but A-State has won the last two times.

LAST TIME OUT

Arkansas State dropped its season-opener to UT Martin last Monday by a score of 75-73. A-State held a 16-point (39-23) lead at halftime, but allowed the Skyhawks to score 52 points in the second half to give coach Heath Schroyer his first win at UTM.

The loss to UT Martin was A-State's first loss to the Skyhawks since the 2005-06 season when UTM won 80- 77 in overtime in Martin. It was only UTM's second win against A-State in Jonesboro and its first in the Convocation Center. Additionally, it was only coach John Brady's second loss against the Skyhawks in his entire career and the first loss he's suffered to them as Arkansas State's head coach. ?

SCOUTING LAMAR

Lamar enters the contest with a record of 1-3 with their lone win coming against NAIA foe LSU-Alexandria 78-75. The Cardinals opened the season with a 93-54 loss at #22 SMU before defeating LSUA. Lamar fell to Sun Belt Conference member Texas State 65-55 in San Marcos in its third game of the year before dropping an 85-72 decision at Indiana.

Last season, the Cardinals were a 4-26 team with a 3-15 mark in the Southland Conference, good for 11th place. They returned two starters and six letterwinners from that team.

This season, Tyran de Lattibeaudiere has led the Cardinals in most statistical categories. He is first in points (64), rebounds (32), blocks (6), and steals (13). The only game he hasn't tallied double-figures in was against SMU in the season opener. ?He scored a season-high 26 against LSU?Alexandria and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds. Anthony Holliday is the other Cardinal averaging double-figures with 11.7 per game, but did not play against Texas State. Lamar also features one player from the state of Arkansas in Quan Jones, who prepped at Hall High School in Little Rock before playing junior college basketball at Connors State and transferring to Lamar before this season.

Tic Price was named interim head coach at Lamar on Feb. 16, 2014 and was named head coach 10 days after the conclusion of the regular season. He was 1-4 as the interim and is 1-3 this season. Coach Price comes into the contest with an 8-0 record against Arkansas State after serving previous stints as the head coach at New Orleans (1994-97), Memphis (1997-99), and McNeese State (2001-06). He took New Orleans and McNeese State to one NCAA Tournament berth each and led New Orleans and Memphis to one NIT appearance. He has a 169-129 record in 10 seasons as a head coach.

Living-strong: Sophomore forward Anthony Livingston had little problems adjusting to Division I basketball after transferring from San Jacinto Junior College. He scored a team-high 26 points (19 in the first half) in last Monday's loss to UTM and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. He was 9-of-15 from the field, including 2-of-3 from the three-point line and 6-of-7 at the charity stripe. He also tallied the team's lone block on the evening.

Last but Not Least: Arkansas State is the last Division I team to play its second game of the season with Tuesday's contest. The next to last school, Memphis, played Monday night, which is when A-State's game with Lamar was originally scheduled.

What's Returning: A-State returns three players from the 2013-14 team in juniors Cameron Golden, Kelvin Downs, and Josh Pierre as the Red Wolves' top five scoring leaders graduated. The trio combined to account for 13.4 percent (325-2,432)?of the Red Wolves' scoring output from a season ago. Golden returns as A-State's leader in scoring (7.6 ppg.), rebounding (2.5), assists (2.5), and steals (1.1).

New Assistants:Carlos Wilson and Mike Scutero will begin their first season at A-State in 2014-15 as assistants on head coach John Brady's staff. Wilson previously was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Odessa (Texas) College while Scutero spent the 2013-14 season as an assistant at Kennesaw (Ga.) State. Prior to KSU, Scutero was an assistant to the head coach (Kermit Davis) and director of basketball operations at Middle Tennessee State from 2010-13.

Ready To Play: Guards PJ Hardwick and Sean Gardner are both eligible for competition this 2014-15 season after not playing in the 2013-14 campaign. Hardwick, a transfer from North Texas, sat out due to the NCAA?Division I Transfer Rule while Gardner was redshirted after signing with the Red Wolves prior to the 2013-14 season. Hardwick, who started in 17 of UNT's 32 games for the 2012-13 season, scored a team seventh-best 3.7 points (118 pts.) and 2.9 rebounds (92 rebs.) while averaging 23.7 minutes per contest (758 total). Gardner compiled per game averages of 10.7 points (320 pts.), 3.6 rebounds (108 rebs.), and 3.0 assists (89 ast.) in 30 2012-13 outings at Motlow Community College, coached by former A-State men's basketball player Jerry Nichols (2005-06).

Productive Helper: Cameron Golden's team-leading 81 assists in 32 appearances last season represented a personal single-season best, bettering his 65 assists in 31 games for the 2012-13 campaign. Golden set personal season highs in points (244), steals (36), field goals made (81), free throws made (39), minutes played (768), and games played (32)?this past 2013-14 season.

Among The Best: Arkansas State was one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams in the 2013-14 season as the Red Wolves ranked 12th among the final NCAA?Division I?leaders in three-point field goals per game (8.8), 22nd in three-point field goals made (282), 36th in three-point field goal attempts (737), and 40th in three-point field goal percentage (38.3 percent).

Monthly Records: The Red Wolves are 18-17 in November games, 25-19 in December, 28-22 in January, 22-23 in February, and 6-11 in March contests since head coach John Brady's arrival in the 2008-09 season. A-State went 4-2 in November encounters a season ago and is 0-1 so far this year.

Scoring Machine: A-State's 2,432 points scored in the 2013-14 season is a program all-time best, surpassing the 2,392 points set by the 2006-07 team. The Red Wolves averaged 76.0 points a contest in 32 games, which represented the program's highest scoring average since the 2004-05 team scored an average of 76.1 points per game (2,207 pts.) in 29 outings.

Close Ties: Guard Josh Pierre's father, Butch, will embark on his seventh season as the associate men's basketball head coach at Oklahoma State University. Butch spent 11 seasons (1997-08)?at LSU?as a member of current A-State head coach John Brady's staff, including six as an associate head coach. Josh has a twin brother, Joseph III. Pierre doubled his points production last season by tallying 12 points in eight games after netting six points in four appearances for the 2012-13 campaign.

Information Provided by Arkansas State University Sports Information Department